Opodo travel news

Among European Union (EU) member states, the highest number of nights spent in tourist accommodation in 2013 was recorded in France.

In all, visitors to the country racked up 405 million nights - an increase of 1.1% compared with 2012 - placing it ahead of Spain (387m), Italy (363m), Germany (355m) and the UK (320m), according to eurostat.

Between them, these 'big five' nations accounted for 70% of the 2.6bn nights spent in tourist accommodation across the 28 EU member states.

Although the UK was the lowest ranked of the top five countries, it recorded by far the biggest increase in nights, up 6.5%, showing that hosting the Olympics in 2012 has had a lasting effect.

However, the greatest growth overall was seen in Greece (+11.7%), as the country begins to recover from the financial crisis. Malta and Latvia also witnessed a surge in hotel stays last year.